Can Orinda evacuate in time if a wildfire starts at night?
A court ruled that the City of Orinda approved its growth plan without enough information to know whether residents can safely get out during a wildfire.
The City’s own environmental report determined the plan could impair emergency response and evacuation.
Why This Matters to Orinda
Orinda is a hillside community with limited exit routes.
During a wildfire, all residents must evacuate at the same as emergency vehicles must enter on the same roads.
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This creates a simple safety question:
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Can we all evacuate before a fast-moving wildfire reaches neighborhoods?
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Right now, the City does not have a clear answer.
What the Court Decided
In 2024, a Contra Costa County Superior Court ruled:
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The City approved its long-term development plan without sufficient analysis of wildfire evacuation impacts.
The judge found the Environmental Impact Report did not provide enough information for decision-makers or the public to understand the magnitude of evacuation risk.
A subsequent court reinforced the ruling with specific action:
The City must reduce the number of additional units to the state-mandated bare minimum, and improve the evacuation plan to handle the increase in population density.
De We Have Enough Time to Evacuate?
Wildfire safety depends on three clocks:
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How quickly the fire spreads
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How early residents are warned
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How long evacuation takes
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​The City approved 2,000+ housing units in downtown Orinda, without assessing the impact on evacuation.
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More residents using the same roads means longer evacuation time.
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Emergency vehicles using those same roads at the same time makes the problem much harder.
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If evacuation takes longer than the fire, people die.
What the City Must Do Now
Planning will only happen once.
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Once long-term development approvals are finalized, future projects will rely on this analysis.
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If evacuation capacity is not evaluated correctly now, it may not be revisited for decades.
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This is the community’s opportunity to ensure evacuation safety is verified before irreversible decisions are made.
Get Involved with OSEE
Orindans for Safe Emergency Evacuation (OSEE) is a non-partisan group of local residents focused on one issue:
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Adequate evacuation and emergency response capacity during wildfire.
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We support housing, community vitality, and downtown improvements, provided life safety is verified first.
Donate
Now
Venmo: @OrindaSEE (case sensitive)​
Zelle: OrindaSEE@gmail.com
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Mail donations to OSEE:
P.O. Box 2046, Orinda, CA 94563
Let’s Work Together
We appreciate your support! Let us know how to reach you.